East Meadow claims conference title

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East Meadow continued to pile up wins as a team and as individuals on the wrestling mats, improving its Conference 1B record to a perfect 4-0 with a 54-21 victory over Port Washington on Jan. 20, and clinching the regular-season title.

The Jets won 11 of the 15 matches, with senior Joseph Gangi’s ending the fastest. It took him just 0:34 to pin the Vikings Andres Delao in their bout at 160 pounds. The strong showing in dual meets has put East Meadow in strong position as it gears up for the start of next week’s Nassau County Dual Meet Championships.

“There was definitely a sense of excitement,” coach Lou Lago said. “But they know there’s a lot of hard work to be done leading up to the next level of events.”

Lago, in his first season as the varsity coach after spending the last eight as an assistant, has a team with a strong blend of seniors and up-and-coming underclass wrestlers who have developed nicely this winter. Led by senior 138-pounder Andre Cunha, who defeated Port Washington’s Lucas Freidman, 8-2, and seniors Dan Rivers (120), Mike Choi (145), Gangi and Jesse Weiner (182), the Jets have a well-rounded lineup that has served them well in dual meets so far.

Cunha, who just missed earning All-County honors last winter — he fell one victory shy of the placing round — continues to improve his skill on the mat, particularly on his feet. “He had a good, clean match,” Lago said of Cunha’s win over Freidman. “And that’s what we want [this time of year].”

With the Nassau qualifying tournaments on Feb. 6, followed by the County Championships the following weekend, now is the time Lago hopes to get his wrestlers close to their peak. And to that end, senior Mario Froelich (195) has started coming on strong, and had a pin of Port Washington’s Jake Bazzini in 3:06.

Freshman James Gangi scored an 11-9 decision over the Vikings Jake Diamond at 106, following up a strong showing at the Harold Earl Duals at Valley Stream Central on Jan. 16, where he shutout Seaford’s Tom Lynch, 5-0 in a dual meet East Meadow won comfortably, 56-18. Freshman Shawn Regan continued to pile up wins of his own, as did Rivers and Weiner. They all racked up three wins in three bouts at the Harold Earl Duals and against Port Washington.

Junior Stephen Falco, a 145-pounder, won both of his matches at the Harold Earl Duals with one coming via pin in just 16 seconds over Jericho’s Jacob Flink, helping the Jets walk away with a 51-31 win. His other win was a pin of Seaford’s Louie Weissberg at the 2:39 mark, and he followed the weekend wins up with a 12-0 majority decision over Alex Nam at 152.

“We want [the younger wrestlers] to have a taste of [success],” Lago said. “Because that can end up being a driving force.”